Putting idle manpower to work.

Byline: Jawaid Bokhari

Much is talked about democracy and secularism that the Quaid-i-Azam stood for but hardly anything is heard about his move to promote out of the box thinking with the help of the best economists, academicians, civil servants and public figures for the uplift of the independent state of Pakistan.

Following the 1940 Pakistan Resolution and as far back as August 1944, the Quaid had set up the Economic Planning Committee (EPC) to prepare a five-year plan. Dealing with the problem of the then growing inequality of income and wealth the committee spelt out guiding points - full employment, adequate wages and reasonable prices - in pursuit of evolving a new economic model.

The defined guiding points are still relevant today as the country is faced with increasing unemployment and high inflation while decent jobs are not many.

The EPC had recommended that 'the right to work, adequately remunerated, appropriate to the mental and physical capacity, training and aptitude should be guaranteed. The idle population should be made productive. We may find a way out by utilising the idle resources, natural and human.' Nothing of the kind seems to be happening on the required scale.

It is time to evolve a system through which every citizen puts his shoulder to the economic wheel to harness the country's unutilised rich resources

While successive governments have focused initially on economic development and then on economic growth to create jobs and widen prosperity they have neglected human resource development. Labour is cheap and its productivity is low.

The long-term sustainable high growth remains elusive and after repeated boom and bust cycles, we have reached a point where the problems of unemployment and poverty are becoming more difficult to resolve. An independent economist estimates that the unemployment rate would increase from the current estimated 6 per cent to 8pc by 2020. Differing sharply from the official figures reported from time to time, President of Employers Federation of Pakistan Majyd Aziz asserts that the jobless rate is not less than 14-15pc. He said the country has seen large layoffs in recent months.

Joblessness and poverty erode social cohesion, create tensions and adversely impact the business environment. Unemployment and sluggish economic growth are fuelling social tensions and popular protests in several Arab countries, says an International Monetary Fund report. And Pakistan is confronted with its own...